Over the past few years the expectations for Series A in Europe have shifted quite a bit.
In 2020–2021, strong storytelling and early traction could sometimes carry a round. Today the bar is higher. Series A capital is increasingly seen as fuel for a machine that already works, not a way to fix fundamentals.
In many cases investors expect something like €2–3M ARR with predictable growth. But revenue alone isn’t enough. Investors also look for validated acquisition channels, strong retention, a clear monetization model, and a team that has already shown it can execute.
Cap table structure also matters more than many founders realize. By Series A, founders typically still hold around 60–70%. Over-diluted cap tables often create problems for future rounds.
Europe also has its own dynamics. Unlike the US, the market is fragmented. Companies rarely scale by focusing on a single country, so founders often need a pan-European or global expansion strategy earlier.
Timing also matters. Many founders start fundraising too late. In practice, the process often begins 6–9 months before the round while the company continues to grow. If growth slows because “we were fundraising,” investors notice immediately.
Curious how others see it: what does “Series A ready” look like today?
A more useful question is: what kinds of SaaS are actually getting funded today?
Over the last couple of years the barrier to building software has dropped significantly. AI tools make it easier to build interfaces, automation layers, and basic functionality quickly. As a result, products whose differentiation lives mostly in UI or thin workflow automation are harder to defend.
That's why generic productivity tools, project management platforms, CRM clones, and thin AI wrappers built on top of existing APIs are finding it harder to raise funding and survive.
The companies that still attract strong interest tend to have a few characteristics:
- products embedded in real operational processes
- ownership of structured or proprietary data
- deep domain expertise in a specific industry
Reproducing an interface is relatively easy. Reproducing years of accumulated data, integrations, and operational trust is much harder.
Another shift is pricing and distribution. Seat-based SaaS models are under pressure, especially when AI agents can replace or compress human workflows. Consumption-based pricing and value-linked pricing models are becoming more common.
For startups this means the bar is higher. A large codebase is no longer an advantage by itself. What matters more is speed, focus, and a clear understanding of the workflow you’re improving.
Curious how others here see it, especially founders building SaaS products today.
The company is building a Large Tabular Model (LTM), which is designed to work with the structured, tabular data, where most enterprise decisions actually live. Its core product, NEXUS, is purpose-built for enterprise use cases and addresses limitations that traditional LLMs struggle with.
Since its founding in October 2024, the company has raised $30 million in a seed round and $225 million in a series A round. Fundamental has partnered with AWS and is already working with Fortune 100 enterprises.
I’m a VC, not a founder, but I’ve seen a lot of what works (and what doesn't) when it comes to finding a co-founder.
Here are three pieces of advice I'd share:
1. Do not search for a cofounder in the abstract. Instead, start by pulling people into the problem. Look at your users or advisors. Pay attention during early user interviews: if someone starts offering unsolicited feedback, reframes your thinking, or shows a natural ownership instinct, that might be your person.
2. Do not underestimate technical people with storytelling skills and user empathy. Not all GTM leaders come from sales.
3. Before formalizing anything, align with your co-founder on three fronts:
what you're building (make sure you're on the same page here) + your roles and decision-making + equity and commitments. Bring in a third party if needed and write things down.